Dr Owusu Afriyie-Akoto – Minister for Agriculture
Government has reduced the price of fertilizer by 50 percent to boost the agriculture sector.
The reduction in the price of fertilizer is also expected to improve export of agricultural products in the country.
Compound fertilizer (NPK), which was sold at GH¢85 in 2016, is now selling at GH¢57.50p.
Urea is currently going for GH¢47.50p instead of the previous GH¢80.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister of Agriculture, who revealed this to journalists, said the government was committed to improving the lives of farmers.
He explained that “organic fertilizer will be GH¢15 flat. What it means is that the GH¢57 represents 50 percent reduction as the subsidy amounts to 50 percent. The cost to the government is GH¢115 per bag of 50kg for NPK, which is the most common form of fertilizer. A farmer is paying only half of it, which amounts to GH¢57.50p.”
“In terms of comparison with last year, we hope that this huge reduction in price of fertilizer for farmers would encourage more to apply fertilizers so that we can raise productivity on the farms this year.”
He was optimism the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government would invest heavily in infrastructure development to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the sector.
According to the farmers, the development would increase their yields and reduce post-harvest losses.
They were also of the view that the bold initiative of government, among others, would enhance the agriculture sector.
Philip Abayori, President of the Ghana Agricultural Chamber of Commerce, said with the reduction in the prices of fertilizers, farmers would save up to 50 percent of their income.
“The fertilizer was taking about 45 percent, and in some cases 60 percent of the cost of production. In that case, it hardly made the farmers competitive compared to their peers across the sub-region.”
From Vincent Kubi, Tema